Archives for November 2012

The summer 2012 ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Fellows Program will be the fourteenth funded by the Freeman Foundation to support collaborative undergraduate research in East and Southeast Asia. Over $434,000 will be allocated to fourteen faculty mentors and sixty-two undergraduate students for study in teams numbering between four and six individuals. Ten teams will conduct research in China, one in Japan, one in Indonesia, one in Thailand, and one in both Thailand and Cambodia.

When the summer 2012 program is completed, 172 grants will have been provided to 772 student faculty fellows from 98 different colleges throughout North America. Four of this year’s recipients are from colleges previously not funded by this program. Consequently, its outreach continues to grow. ASIANetwork remains truly grateful to the remarkable commitment of the Freeman Foundation to this program, to ASIANetwork, and to the undergraduate students and their faculty mentors who are transformed by this experience. There is no other program like it.

The teams funded this year along with the titles and a brief description of their research proposals and reports are given below.

Mr. Adam Baldocchi and Ms. Kathleen Thomas spent twenty-five days in Beijing with their faculty mentor. Adam’s project focused upon the marriage market in Beijing and upon university students’ attitudes toward marriage. Kathleen’s research focused upon the attitudes of university students toward the gaokao, the national college entrance examination, and on the influence this examination has on individuality in reform-era China.

Adam Baldocchi

My research was two-fold. First, I focused upon marriage markets in Beijing (note, one finds them in other large cities such as Shanghai and Xi’an as well) that are found in Gongshan and other public parks. On Thursdays and Sundays, generally from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M., up to 1000 parents of unmarried children who are in their 20’s, 30’s and even to their mid-40’s meet in order to network with other parents who have unwed children in an effort to become matchmakers. Some come with descriptions of the ideal mate they seek for their child that specify the height and weight of such an individual, establish whether an individual is stable and adequately employed, and whether they have established a suitable residence. I found parents somewhat unwilling to discuss these issues with me, and as a consequence, much of what I discovered was only observational and anecdotal. My findings suggest that these matchmakers are seldom successful especially when trying to find matches for older children.

My other research was conducted on the campuses of seven different universities in Beijing by conducting surveys of over 400 students to ascertain their views on marriage and love. Preliminary results suggest that men and women tend to agree on many facets of love and marriage, but suggest that women are significantly more focused on the importance of love in marriage than are men. Men believed that providing for the family and one’s spouse was the most important aspect of marriage and indicated that they would delay marriage until they could accomplish this. Both men and women indicated that they would not go against their parents’ wishes in choosing a marriage partner.

Kathleen Thomas

My research in Beijing during the summer of 2012 was the culmination of a year-long experience in China which began with two semesters of language study in Nanjing. It focuses upon perceptions of the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (NHEEE) held by university students, especially their views upon the impact preparing for the examination has on a person’s individuality. I also compared differing views of the examination held by Beijing residents in comparison with non-resident students.

With the help of an interpreter, I completed 183 surveys and conducted twelve interviews on eight different university campuses. The surveys show that 63.3% of responding subjects believed the exam emphasizes the importance of conformity in Chinese society, and 56.1% believed it to be detrimental to creativity. Despite this, the research shows a positive perception of the NHEEE based on their view that the examination gave them better opportunities in life by making the university entrance process fairer. Views toward the examination differed little between Beijing and non-Beijing residents.

Five Colby College students and their mentor spent three weeks in China examining new trends in aging experiences and eldercare patterns. Although a highly collaborative project, each student conducted her own particular research. Together we sought to discover what services have been developed at the community level for an increasingly aging population; why public parks have become a popular place for urban retirees to spend time in; how rural elderly cope with old age compared to their urban counterparts, given they are less likely to have pensions and more likely to have children who have migrated to other areas to seek employment and better opportunities in life; what roles NGOs have begun to play in eldercare and what challenges they face; and why some elderly are moving to residential facilities for eldercare and how these facilities compare, one to the other.

Altogether we visited seven community centers, six eldercare facilities, six parks, four NGOs who specialize in eldercare services in Beijing and Shanghai, and one rural village in Hebei province. We also conducted and collected data from 140 interviews. Some of our preliminary findings suggest the following: 1) Neighborhood community centers currently offer an array of recreational activities for active and healthy urban retirees, and some are exploring new ways of providing community-based support for elderly citizens who have dementia or need assistance in recovering from surgery or stroke. 2) Our visits in rural Hebei reveal that youth migration in this area is localized, and that most elderly seem satisfied with their current life. 3) Our interviews in parks and community centers show that many parents still think that the cultural adage of “raising children against old age” is valid, but at the same time, they seek to maintain good health as long as possible and to save their resources so they need not depend too much on their children. 4) Both middle-aged and elderly parents wish to remain independent as long as their health allows, and if their health fails, are inclined to choose residential care rather than imposing upon their children by co-residing with them.

Colby team at an elder home in Beijing

Colby team at a day care center in Shanghai

Colby students conducting park interviews in Beijing

Petya Andreeva interviewing people at a community center in Beijing

Bette Ha interviewing a villager in Hebei

Eliza Lamoon interviewing a retiree at a park in Shanghai

Fiona Masland conducting an interview at an NGO-run day care center in Shanghai

Jen Tsang interviewing a resident at a Shanghai elder home.

Petya Andreeva

The focus of my independent research in this team project is titled “New Developments in Community-Based Eldercare Services in China.” Before participating in this research project, I had already completed four years of Chinese language study and been in China and Hong Kong three times. However, the ASIANetwork Freeman grant program and the work of Professor Zhang provided me with greater access to eldercare facilities and community centers than previously possible when I was engaged in researching the same topic while in Beijing the year before. My most important discovery has been the growing collaboration between NGOs and community centers to ensure that an abundance of resources and activities are available for older persons. Often it is the NGOs that provide the funding and planning to provide activities and programs for the elderly, but the community centers provide the physical space needed to carry out these projects. Activities depend on the median age of residents and the needs of the community, but they can range from chorus singing to dance and modeling lessons, to specialized services in daycare centers for people near the end of their lives.

Bette Ha

My independent research for this group project focuses on the “The Challenges Facing the Rural Elderly and New Coping Strategies.” My study was informed by a weekend visit to the rural area of Botou township in Hebei Province where I was able to interview several elderly residents, visit the director of a rather large (100 residents) municipal elder home, whose fees and healthcare expenses are all met by the government because the applicants are childless, and observe a traditional funeral in process. Botou is a small town of about 1100 people which has about 100 villagers who are between sixty and seventy and only a few over eighty. The elderly in this village were remarkably open and willing to converse with younger visitors from North America. We discussed with them their views about family, the importance of filial piety, and the challenges they face financially, regarding housing and healthcare, and also the infrequent return of children who work in the city to visit them. We discovered that 95% of young people in Botou find wage labor in the township close by, but despite the proximity of the two communities, they live in apartments outside the village. Young sons usually insist on having their parents live with them, but the elderly prefer not to, because the potential duties of baby-sitting and childcare can be quite daunting. Most of the elderly seemed content with their current conditions and expressed gratitude that once they reach retirement age they will receive a modest monthly 55 yuan pension from the government.

Eliza Laamoon

The topic of my research is titled “Embracing Age with Dance, Tai Chi, and Peers in Urban China.” My study focuses on how changing eldercare norms in China’s cities have led aging parents to live independently and actively work to create their own social networks. It shows that the elderly have accepted this pattern because they hope not to become a burden upon their children. As independent elderly persons, Chinese often turn to public parks to join social groups, pursue hobbies such as tai chi, dancing, and singing. These groups might be quite small and intimate but there are also large groups that require their leaders to converse using a microphone. Often married couples separate for an afternoon as each goes to a different park to pursue a different hobby.

Fiona Masland

My research in China focuses upon the growing role of non-governmental organizations in the field of elder care and is titled “Social Innovations and Service Delivery for the Elderly: ‘Partnership’ between Government and NGOs.” I visited a wide variety of organizations from those which only provide cultural activities for active seniors to centers that provide full services for elderly citizens suffering from dementia. I also studied the close relationship between the Chinese government which provides the funds, and NGOs which provide services for the elderly. My research was also informed by a summer internship I held during the summer of 2011 for an NGO in Beijing.

Jen Tsang

My research concentrated upon specific types of elderly homes: government-run, community-run, and privately-run, and is titled “Changing Attitudes toward Institutional Care in China.” It confirms that the emergence of and variations within these institutions reflect the changing views of Chinese toward elder care. I visited a wide range of residential homes in both Beijing and Shanghai, interviewed the residents of these homes and, where feasible, their directors as well. This study shows that there is a wide range of reasons why individuals choose to reside in elder care homes, including: physical or mental health concerns, seeking to live somewhat independently, and the desire not to become a financial or other burden upon one’s children. It also suggests that the government-run homes offer more activities and services than the other types, but this does not mean that those living in community-run or privately-run homes are less content.

“Savages, Victims, Saviors and Their Engagement in Neoliberal Processes”

Project Abstract

The research of the College of Charleston students was conducted in Cambodia and Thailand during the months of June and July. Though of an independent nature, all projects were jointly informed by the concepts developed by Makau Mutua (2001) which suggest that the discourse of human rights in the Global North rests on a triad of concepts, a three-legged stool comprised of savages, their victims, and their saviors (SVS). Violations are imagined to be attributable to a perfect savage, a dehumanized figure that carries the evil for us all. This figure is constructed as “the other” – not us, but barbarians, i.e., not civilized people. In contrast, the victim is described as a “powerless, helpless innocent” (Mutua, 2001:204). If the savage is less than human, the victim is the defenseless human, with little agency or will. This weakness therefore necessarily calls forth the last leg of the triad, the savior, constructed as “the good angel who protects, vindicates, civilizes, restrains, and safeguards. The savior is the victim’s bulwark against tyranny” (Mutua, 2001:204).

Elizabeth Figliola

The focus of my research is titled “Local Alternatives to the Truth Reconciliation Committee (TRC): Unofficial Truth Telling in Cambodian Communities.” It recognizes that even though efforts are being made in Cambodia, through government channels such as the TRC and ECCC, and through media organizations such as “Mekong News”, to better understand the genocide that occurred there from 1975-79, important additional work that more fully engages the average Cambodian is being undertaken by a broad range of less well known NGOs, such as Youth For Peace (YFP), Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), and Bophana. In addition, state sponsored memorials were not exactly built by Khmer. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, former Security Prison 21, was preserved almost immediately upon the arrival of the Vietnamese in Phnom Penh to help justify their invasion of the country. Similarly, the Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial was built during the last year of Vietnamese occupation, and it was sold in 2005 to the Japanese Company JC Royal. My study considers alternative venues that provide the Khmer people with the opportunity to memorialize and which promote national healing, educational outreach, and intergenerational dialogue. The focus of these NGOs is often not to develop a national narrative, but rather to foster individual stories from this terrible period. Though handicapped by government limits established to protect those still in positions of power, these unofficial truth projects are, as stated by Louis Bickford, “a social reality currently under-explored” which both compliment state initiatives and substitute for an absence of such initiatives.

Lua Eijsink and Susannah Hicks

The focus of our study was to examine the status of the child welfare system and orphanages in Cambodia and how these organizations collaborate with tourists who volunteer to assist them. Our analysis is based upon interviews with volunteers and with child welfare institution directors, participant observation, and the analysis of formal questionnaires. Our assumptions about the role the state plays in protecting children from labor exploitation was challenged from the start and became the new normative in our research process.

Tara Schiraldi

My study is focused upon the impact of improving diplomatic and economic relations between the West and Myanmar on the NGOs and CBOs (Community-based organizations) currently providing services to displaced Burmese populations living inside Thailand. It is titled “The Marketing of Need: Analyzing the Responses of NGOs and CBOs to Funding cuts and Shifting International Prerogatives along the Thai-Burma Border.” Because the possibility of democracy and lifting of economic sanctions in Myanmar looks promising, funding cuts to groups providing assistance to refugees seem likely even though at-risk populations along the Thai-Burma border remain large and in peril. Interviews with those working in these NGOs and CBOs conducted during the summer of 2012 suggest they are experiencing or anticipating cuts. Their perception is that given the changes occurring in Myanmar, novelty of programming and effective marketing is more essential than their actual achievements if they are to continue to receive support. For CBOs in Thailand who are working with Burmese in Myanmar, marketability is weakened by two key factors, the clandestine nature of their cross-border efforts, and the limited linguistic capacity of the CBO workers to converse in English with potential benefactors.

Liza Wood

My work, recently presented at an international conference in the Netherlands with my mentor Dr. Helen Delfeld, is titled “The Hegemony of Homogeneity.” It studies the commoditization of rice production in Thailand and the impact of moving from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture in the country’s Northeast region. Working with six communities across the Northeast, we studied the choice made by farmers to affiliate with either governmental or non-governmental organizations or a combination of both in seeking a market for their goods. We then compared the impact of network affiliation through surveys, interviews and ethnographic observations in these communities. We discovered that those engaged in non-governmental networks express a greater degree of engagement with alternative farming practices, understanding the value of native rice varieties, and the practice of agricultural customs. However, it is clear that farmers affiliated with both organizations are equally focused on markets given the reality of ongoing market pressure.

Our group spent a month visiting several village sites in the subtropical hilly interior of China’s Southeastern Fujian Province to conduct field-based ethnographic research on how the relationship between humans and the environment is changing within rural areas as China rapidly modernizes. Our chief focus was to explore the theme of “threatened traditions” and “threatened diversities” within the region. We are currently analyzing a vast amount of data secured during our research process, but at this point it is safe to say that in general we found that there are no easy conclusions to be drawn – some traditional practices are disappearing, some are enduring, and some are being modified and reinvented. Nonetheless, it is clear that the greater political and infrastructural ease of rural-to-urban labor migration has changed village life by adding new income streams to villages, increasing heat and electrical options that replace wood (thereby decreasing pressure on forests), and increasing the proportion of cash cropping in agriculture. Moreover, less rural labor but increased remittances have ecological effects as well, as more farmers are switching to synthetic fertilizers, and sometimes decreasing the number of seasonal crops. Ecological effects are felt in aquatic systems, where local people uniformly report disappearance of small vertebrates such as eels, frogs and loaches in wet rice paddies, and in forests, where protectionist laws and an increasing withdrawal from wild resource procurement has generally led to returning forest cover. Our data on rural animal populations is more variable, with different research sites giving different estimates regarding wild pig, deer, goat, monkey, and rabbit populations. There is a notable increase in the rise of both scientific and market discourse being used to frame discussion about natural resources suggesting a more centralized and non-local perception of the environment. The project has been a joint endeavor which will lead to the production of a joint publication of our findings and several conference presentations.

Pausing for a photo during anthropology research in the countryside near Ninghua, Fujian Province. Members of our GMC group, from left to right, are: Charlotte Wright, Alison Putnam, and Mark Dailey.

Our favorite research site: the village of Songyang, Fujian Province.

Interviewing local villagers in Fujian Province. Members of the Green Mountain College group pictured are, from left to right: Jena Stevens, Simon Winchell-Manning, Jessica McClusky.

Interviewing the village head in a village near Ninghua, Fujian Province. Members of the Green Mountain College group (from left to right) are Jena Stevens and Jessica McClusky.

Doing anthropology research in a Chinese village in Fujian Province. From left to right: Jena Stevens, Simon Winchell-Manning, the Village Head, and Jessica McClusky.

Jessica McClusky

Working with a diversity of people, from aging rural farmers to hip city dwellers, confirmed that there are a range of diverse interests, values, and needs in China’s growing population. Isolation is antithetical to the human species and thwarts our evolutionary potential. Our study has shown that knowledge about the environment is being transferred in new ways in China. For instance, although in many cases the elderly members in our villages still transfer their understanding of nature and agriculture to their children, in one rural village we visited, farm laborers were being brought in and taught farming skills because younger members of the village had migrated to cities to work and were no longer interested in farming. At the same time, this trans-generational exchange of knowledge also occurs when the rural youth return to visit the farm newly informed about more modern concepts of the environment and its fragility.

Alison Putnam

The research of our group focused upon the ways rapid changes in Chinese culture, such as industrialization and economic/social liberalization, have impacted the ways in which villagers interact with their environment. It is clear that as families come to rely more on their relatives sending remittances from city jobs, their dependence on subsistence agriculture decreases. In short, commercial (cash crop) agriculture occupies the niche once held by subsistence farming. Moreover, the change in land use patterns have led to a renewal in the vitality of the local forests and mountains, but at the same time, the increased reliance on herbicides and pesticides is damaging biological life in fields and rice paddies. As products and people leave the villages, goods produced outside of the village are more widely available.

Jena Stevens

Our research looked specifically at the effects of outmigration and deruralizaton on small villages in the Chinese countryside of Southeast China. We are now beginning the long process of coding and looking for general trends in the vast amount of data we have collected. Some of the topics that will be further explored include the increase in cash cropping (tobacco, tea, bamboo, fruits, etc.), farm ecology and species changes, outmigration, the transformation of forested areas, the possible growth of illegal hunting, and the growth of understanding about modern agricultural practices and environmental concerns.

Simon Winchell-Manning

Much of the data we gathered while conducting research in rural South China fit our general expectations and underlying assumptions. For instance, subjects in every village spoke of significant migration to the cities and changing population dynamics, while in many villages the remitted wages of urban family laborers had a significant impact on the lives of those remaining behind. Increased access to markets caused by road construction, the increased number of vehicles, and the willingness of villagers to travel to cities has led some farmers to grow cash crops such as tobacco. Many villagers suggested that illicit hunting and the sale of wild game was widespread, and, among older villagers, the gathering of certain wild and semi-wild herbs and other plants was quite profitable. Interestingly, several farmers, although producing cash crops for the marketplace, announced that they were growing vegetables, grains and other foods for their own consumption in order to enjoy the benefits of eating “green food.”

Charlotte Wright

Our research focused upon the impact of outmigration and industrialization on rural village life in Southeast China. It is clear that for some the financial remittances provided by children and relatives working in the cities have made their lives much less arduous. For example, an elderly woman in one village no longer personally works in her fields, but rather rents her plots to other villagers because the monies provided from these rentals and her son are sufficient to meet her needs. New construction, funded by remittances, is also evident in rural China. The modernization of agriculture with its heavy use of chemicals has adversely impacted the flora and fauna, but at the same time, we discovered a large government-funded project in the region committed to reducing erosion through reforestation.

A consortium of around 160 North American colleges, ASIANetwork strives to strengthen the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education to help prepare succeeding generations of undergraduates for a world in which Asian societies play prominent roles in an ever more interdependent world.